1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for cutting a display panel and method for fabricating individual display cells, and particularly, to a method for cutting a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel and method for fabricating individual liquid crystal display cells using the same
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, an LCD device includes a matrix array of LCD cells supplied with data signals to control light transmittance of the LCD cells to display images. The LCD device is fabricated by forming a plurality of thin film transistor (TFT) array substrates on a first large-sized mother substrate, which is commonly formed of glass, and a plurality of color filter substrates on a second large-sized mother substrate. Then, the first and second large-sized mother substrates are attached to each other to form a plurality of unit LCD panels. Next, the attached first and second large-sized mother substrates undergo a cutting process to produce a plurality of individual unit LCD panels. The cutting process is commonly performed by forming a groove on a surface of one of the mother substrates using a cutting wheel having a hardness greater than a hardness of the glass mother substrates, and breaking the glass substrate along the groove. A cutting process of a unit liquid crystal display panel will now be described with reference to accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a unit LCD panel according to the related art. In FIG. 1, a liquid crystal display panel 10 includes an image display part 13 where LCD cells are arranged in a matrix configuration, a gate pad part 14 connected with gate lines 4 of the image display part 13, and a data pad part 15 connected with data lines 5 of the image display part 13. As shown in FIG. 1, one long side and one short side of a TFT array substrate 1 protrude from sides of a color filter substrate 2. Accordingly, the gate pad part 14 is formed at the protruding short side of the TFT array substrate 1, and the data pad part 15 is formed at the protruding long side of the TFT array substrate 1.
The gate pad part 14 supplies scan signals supplied from a gate driving part to the gate lines 4 of the image display part 13, and the data pad part 15 supplies image information supplied from a data driving part to the data lines 5 of the image display part 13. The gate lines 4 and the data lines 5 intersect at the image display part 13 of the TFT array substrate 1, wherein a unit pixel is formed in a region where the gate and data lines 4 and 5 intersect. In addition, each unit pixel includes a TFT to function as a switching element and a pixel electrode connected to the TFT.
The image display part 13 of the color filter substrate 2 is provided with a color filter that is separated into a plurality of cell areas by a black matrix and a common electrode that correspond to a pixel electrode formed at the TFT array substrate 1.
The TFT array substrate 1 and the color filter substrate 2 are attached together by a sealant (not shown) formed at an outer edge of the image display part 13. In addition, spacers are provided between the attached TFT array substrate 1 and color filter substrate 2 to maintain a uniform cell-gap therebetween. Accordingly, a liquid crystal layer (not shown) is formed within the uniform cell-gap between the TFT array substrate 1 and the color filter substrate 2.
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a plurality of LCD panels according to the related art. In FIG. 2, since each of the unit LCD panels is formed such that one side of the TFT array substrate 1 is formed to protrude from the color filter substrate 2, each of the color filter substrates 2 formed on a second mother substrate 30 is mutually isolated from one another by a dummy region 31. The dummy region 31 corresponds to an area where each of the TFT array substrates 1 protrude from the color filter substrates 2.
In addition, each of the unit LCD panels is positioned to maximize useable areas of the first and second mother substrates 20 and 30. For example, each of the unit LCD panels are formed isolated from one another by a dummy region 32, and in order to accommodate for a process margin a dummy region 21 is formed at an edge of the first and second mother substrates 20 and 30.
After the first and second mother substrates 20 and 30 are attached to each other, the attached first and second mother substrates 20 and 30 are cut into a plurality of individual LCD panels. Accordingly, the dummy region 32 are removed, and the dummy region 31 formed at the area where the color filter substrates 2 of the second mother substrate 30 are isolated.
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a plurality of LCD panels according to the related art, and FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a plurality of LCD panels according to the related art. In FIG. 4, when bigger-sized LCD panels 120 are fabricated on a mother substrate 100, as compared to the LCD panels 110 I FIG. 3, only four LCD panels 120 can be formed on a portion of the mother substrate 100. Accordingly, a large amount of the mother substrate 100 is discarded, thereby creating a significant amount of waste, increasing production costs, and reducing manufacturing efficiency.